06/07/2022
You may have heard of the 4th trimester? And the fact that new babies don't like to be put down?
But why does it happen? Well from an evolutionary point of view, babies are still in the "cave man" period. As a species we have not really progressed. A new baby does not realise it's been born into the relative safety of the 21st century with video monitors, central heating and a lack of predators. To a baby being put down is a life and death situation.
A human baby is very helpless, unlike many other mammals, and so relies completely on its mother for food, warmth, safety, security and love. The chest is it's safe place where all of these are freely available.
Our evolution has not caught up with modern life. The babies that survived are those that cried out when they found themselves on their own. Its hard-wired in our evolution. Babies need to instinctively protect themselves from being eaten by something, starving to death or becoming cold and uncomfortable! So when a baby realises it's on its own, it cries in order to tell it's mother to pick it up. It's a warning sign. It's saying "I'm here on my own and I'm in danger".
Once babies get to around 3 months of age they start to realise that their house is safe and warm, that they get fed regularly and there are no predators. They can see better and so can see that you are still nearby. At this stage they are more likely to tolerate being put down somewhere for a short time as long as someone familar is nearby. Although some babies who have more orchid like tendencies (see my post on this) may still not like it very much!
Once they begin to move and explore the world they get a little braver. Sometimes too brave! However, they still like to make sure there is someone familiar around. This is why our crawlers and toddlers like to follow us everywhere, even to the toilet! They're just making sure they're safe!
Then they realise that they can get up to mischief when you're not around! And so don't always follow you any more, preferring to empty the cupboards, eat coal or climb on the windowsill!
